


what killed orpheus

by orphan_account



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Classical References, M/M, Mythology References, i BEG if you do not take this seriously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2020-01-05 06:26:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18360473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Orpheus could write all he wanted to about Eurydice, but nothing, no one, could rival the celestial curtain standing before Ten.





	what killed orpheus

**Author's Note:**

> idk what this is like please don’t take this seriously it’s just ten and sicheng being hopelessly infatuated with each other upon their first meeting and being total nerds over the classics 
> 
> and lol there’s probably a ton of inaccuracies hahaha
> 
> AGHHH this is so bad

Ten knew the classics cover to cover, myth to myth, from tales of cities falling to the ground from lovers pried apart by death. He was fairly acquainted with the impossible, the inconceivable. There was very little that could dazzle him, throw him off course completely.

 

Well, Aeneas had thought the same before encountering Dido.

 

Ten was stood in line at his favorite bakery, waiting for his friend’s cake to be iced completely, when he had whizzed into the shop in wheeled glory.

 

He skated to the counter and said impatiently, “We’ve got practice in twenty minutes. Is your shift almost over?”

 

Ten slowly bookmarked a Catullus poem and stared. He was… Well, there were no words actually. This person, this absolute myth, was the blank spaces between the words that Ten could never find.

 

He was dazzled.

 

The cashier shook their head. “I’ll have to skip today, we’re short staffed. Sorry, Sicheng.”

 

_Sicheng._

 

Sicheng rolled his eyes. “You’re gonna be so underprepared for the concert. I won’t send you the recordings, you know.”

 

He laughed. “That’s fine. I’ll ask Xiaojun.” He turned to Ten. “Your cake is ready, sir.”

 

Sicheng glanced at Ten and smiled. Why the hell did Helen get the praise again?

 

Ten handed his card over and prayed that his hands wouldn’t shake.

 

The employee handed the cake over gently. Sicheng peeked over his shoulder to scan the words.

 

“They did a good job, don’t you think?”

 

Ten nodded and wanted to say something, anything, but his voice seemed to be drowning in the River Styx, phantom words clawing up his throat, and Sicheng was blinking so slowly, and softly- he was spring and Ten was just now experiencing it. He felt refreshed and alight.

 

Sicheng picked up his book of Catullus poems. “Catullus? A bore.” He set it on top of the box and shook his head. “So much great Latin literature and you choose this. A shame.”

 

Ten felt like Cupid when he had first seen Psyche, a human that this Earth didn’t deserve, hell, that the _heavens_ didn’t deserve. His eyes were wonder captured in two perfect circles, lips something that could only be crafted, slopes of his face like the rolling hills of Rome, full of _life._

 

Ten blanked.

 

“You’re on roller skates,” He pointed out dumbly.

 

Sicheng looked down at the white skates on his feet. “Oh. Yeah. They’re fun.”

 

“So you just skate everywhere?”

 

“Yep,” Sicheng said. “They help me enjoy the day.”

 

The image of Sicheng skating around town with a smile on his face carved something into Ten’s chest. Was this real?

 

Sicheng continued. “You’ve studied the classics?”

 

Yes, Ten wanted to say. Yes, he’s studied them until he knew them by heart, and no one, not even Orpheus, could capture what Ten was feeling in that moment. This wasn’t interest, infatuation, or love. This was _divine._ Sicheng was a celestial shower on skates.

 

“I have,” Ten said. “Have you?”

 

“Yeah,” He searched for the right words, before, “ _Quid tibi nomen est?”_

 

“I-“ Ten tried hard to remember the phrase he had repeated all throughout school, this was basic damn it, but Sicheng had just cradled the foreign syllables on his tongue like it was nothing, like no one had ever felt overwhelmed by him at all. “ _Mihi nomen est Ten_.”

 

The cashier scoffed. “You two are nerds.”

 

Sicheng winked. “Cute nerds though, right?”

 

“You think I’m cute?”

 

Sicheng’s cheeks were lit a brilliant red. “Um. That wasn’t the right word to use.”

 

The cashier, (Ten glanced at his name tag, it was Kun.), Kun leaned forward in amusement. “What _was_ the right word to use then?”

 

Sicheng looked Ten in the eye. They were sharp, unmoving, piercing, digging - killing Ten, currently. He couldn’t look at anyone else after this. Ten would rather shut his eyes forever before revering anyone that wasn’t the living art standing before him.

 

“There’s a lot of words.” He scanned Ten up and down. “Too many.”

 

“Yeah, I’m gonna take my break now,” Kun excused himself.

 

Sicheng scribbled something on the order sheet lying on the counter. He stuck it between the pages of the poetry book.

 

He skated towards the door and if Ten had completely lost it, he would’ve thought he had floated there, some heavenly wind transporting him there.

 

“You’re…” Sicheng began, then shook his head. “Never mind. I couldn’t say it even if I tried.”

 

He left after that.

 

Later, when Ten was at his friends birthday party, he sneaked off into the hall, tiny book slotted in his jacket pocket.

 

The note flew out onto the carpeted floor and Ten grasses it gently. This was gospel right here.

 

The first part had a phone number but the next part was a series of messily written phrases strung together.

 

_you look like spring_

_and warmth_

_and I have never felt so reborn_

_and we’ve only just met_

_this is what killed Orpheus wasn’t it?_

_the need to constantly look at you?_

 

Ten read it, then read it again, read it until his head spun. He clutched the note in his hand so hard it began to crinkle.

 

He was dazed.

**Author's Note:**

> EDIT: I actually won't be posting anymore fics. I plan to be really busy in the upcoming months and it doesn't look like it'll slow down after that!! thank you reading this and any other of my works and please, please keep supporting nct and wayv!!


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